The Second Time Around

Samuel Johnson famously said that a second marriage represents the triumph of hope over experience. For jewelers, it also represents significant sales opportunities.

By Jennifer Heebner, Senior Editor -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 1/1/2007

When it comes to love and marriage, Nicole Kidman, Ellen Barkin, and Pamela Anderson aren't much different from the rest of us. Hollywood stars encounter the same relationship difficulties—divorce and remarriage—that many people endure, and they face the same dilemma: what to do with an old engagement ring and how to make sure the next one isn't a reminder of the first.

For jewelers, failed unions can yield additional business through remounts of old engagement diamonds and sales of new bridal jewelry for second marriages. In a JCK poll of retail jewelers, 96 percent of respondents said divorced women bring their diamond engagement rings (DERs) to stores to be remounted or sold, and 92 percent said the engagement ring for the second marriage is more expensive than the ring for the first.

Unlike first-time brides, who typically forgo fancy mountings to put their money into bigger center stones, second-time brides appreciate more-sophisticated semimount styles. But they also want bigger stones, and they're usually in a better financial position than first-time brides to get what they want. In fact, the center stones in DERs for second-time brides often are considerably larger than those in the rings of first-timers. “At Borsheim's, we experience an average of a 75 to 100 percent upgrade in the majority of second-time bride scenarios,” says Sean Moore, diamond buyer for Borsheim's in Omaha, Neb. “A trade-up has an average upgrade of 25 to 75 percent [in bigger stones].”

Jerry Robbins, a Philadelphia jeweler and CEO of Robbins Diamonds, makes the point for jewelers: “There's more money in the second-time bride.”

To help women who are looking for a fresh, diamond-studded start, Robbins has this advice: “Start out every sale by saying Congratulations.”

Second-time brides have probably been influenced by advertising, says David Lampert, president of Lester Lampert in Chicago. “If you look at Town & Country, Departures, and InStyle, you don't see many engagement rings with trillions, and that's why we're not selling many,” he says.

Popular styles are still primarily white metals and antique-look settings, according to JCK retail panel respondents. Some shoppers skip solitaires altogether—Zales has noticed women forgoing the DER and wearing just a diamond band.

Brands, such as Hearts On Fire, can help stores draw shoppers. Stores with nonbranded merchandise have a different strategy. “In the generic nonbranded arena, I think what's selling is the stuff that looks like it's branded,” says Robbins. The proliferation of proprietary diamond cuts in the past 10 years, including Tiffany's Lucida, has increased consumer awareness and admiration of fancies.

Meanwhile, many divorcées want to sell their old rings or remake them into new jewelry. “We experience great success in the area of customer upgrades,” says Moore. “I would recommend that any store that wants to capitalize on this business should take trades and embrace its opportunity to create additional business.”

Trade-In Policies Nationwide

Following are some of the trade-in policies used by members of the JCK retail panel:

Sell diamond center stones on consignment and place mountings in estate or previously owned cases for resale, or offer scrap value for semimounts.
Buy old DERs outright, offering half of the consignment value or two-thirds of the price as store credit.
If trading up to a more expensive item, offer the retail value of the trade-in.
Offer the replacement cost of DERs minus 10 percent.
If the customer bought the ring at your store, offer double the sale price minus the original cost.
Offer wholesale price toward purchase of a more expensive item.
Offer full retail amount on diamonds and scrap value for the metal.
For stones purchased from other stores, offer half the price cited in the Rapaport wholesale diamond sheet.

New Looks for Old Rings

The following ideas come from members of the JCK retail panel:

Reset center stones from diamond engagement rings into new mountings or custom-design a new ring. Giving the diamond a completely different look erases what may be the last remnant of a failed marriage while producing a new piece that can represent a fresh start.
Place colored stones into old mountings. Trading the diamond for a less-expensive gemstone not only creates a new look but also lets the customer get some money back. This may be especially important to a struggling divorcée and will foster the kind of good will that can lead to future sales.
Add stones to solitaire rings to make a new fashion ring. Some customers might want to treat themselves to additional gems—diamonds or colored stones—for a right-hand ring.
Wear DERs on the right hand or pinky fingers. Have rings resized for wear on other digits and start a new trend.
Reset diamond center stones into pendants, or match the stone to make earrings. Some people say that by keeping the old diamond away from the hand, bad karma won't return.
Trade the center stone for a bigger diamond. Help the customer eliminate sour memories altogether by letting her trade in an old stone for a bigger or better one.
Melt all metals into a shapeless mass to be kept as a charm. It's a radical solution, but for some customers, it may help expunge bad memories.
Trade in the stone for a new piece of jewelry. Some jewelers even sell specific items, such as “divorce” bracelets, for these occasions.